Odd One Out
by Pathogen015
Summary: What if one moment changed in your life? What if the zero moment that made you who you are never occurred? Your entire life, turned upside down at the toss of a coin.
1. Chapter 1

Odd one out

Written as of; Volume 1 Chapter 13

What if one moment changed in your life? What if the zero moment that made you who you are never occurred? Your entire life, turned upside down at the toss of a coin.

"End of the line Red!"

Roman Torchwick stood in his airship, brandishing a red dust crystal and laughing maniacally. Throwing the crystal, he levelled his candy cane at the girl in the red cloaked girl on the rooftop below him and pulled the trigger.

The world exploded in fire and light as the girl bought her weapon up in front of her to protect her body as best she could, hoping it would be enough.

Her hope was founded somewhat, the crimson scythe taking the brunt of the impact and shattering at the point of impact, setting off the remaining shells contained within the weapon, rupturing the remains of the once elegant weapon outwards. The girl was thrown back by the blast, bouncing to the edge of the building before lying still.

Gathering her strength, the girl attempted to stand, her wide silver eyes bright with pain. She managed to force herself valiantly up onto one knee before her head swam.

Feeling light-headed and confused, she looked down to see a steadily increasing pool of dark liquid. Collapsing back onto her side, she turned her head to look at her adversary, who had already turned back into the ship.

Taking short, ragged breaths, the girl could do nothing more than watch as the airship took off into the sky, and just as she began to slide into unconsciousness the black fingers playing at the edges of her vision, a figure in a black pencil skirt and a white business blouse appeared in front of her and she lost consciousness.

Six months later

Throughout the shadowy halls, a sharp rhythmic clacking sound was heard, accompanied by the shuffle of many feet.

Weiss stalked through the corridors of the White Castle, her head held high and a look of defiance on her face.

The butlers scurrying behind her wisely kept their distance, not in any hurry to be on the receiving end of the heiresses' sharp tongue.

Weiss Schnee was given all materialistic wants a girl could ask for, her status as the heiress to the largest and richest company in all of Vytal did not leave her short of money by any sense.

She was well versed in the ways of the upper class, of how to hold and present oneself with grace and dignity and to pay attention to what was, or more importantly, not said in conversations.

She also held command over a team of Huntresses-to-be at Beacon academy, the best school for Hunters and Huntresses in Vale.

However, the last factor of her upbringing and education held no weight this day. Weiss Schnee; heiress to the Schnee dynasty was fleeing her family home.

Weiss stormed into the area of the castle designated as the hangar. Several airships were being serviced, but the majority of the crew were clustered around one in the far right corner of the hangar.

Weiss approached the vessel, straight into a barely contained sense of panic. The pilot hurried down the steps, and upon noticing Weiss, he rushed to meet her.

"My lady…" he began in a concerned tone, but his attempt at calming the heiress was cut short by a pair of furious cyan eyes.

"Do not even try!" Weiss stated furiously;

"I am sick of being treated like some porcelain doll!" stamping her foot furiously she continued;

"What use is my training at Beacon if I am unable to use it?"

"That is a question I cannot answer" replied the pilot,

"But my main concern is getting you out of here."

Sighing in frustration, Weiss followed the pilot up the ramp of the airship as the engines began to buzz to life. The plane roared out of the hangar, taking off into the starlit sky.

With the airship in the sky, Weiss could clearly see the lines of White fang Fauna protestors lined up outside the main gates of the Castle. Weiss felt old anger rise up inside her, reinvigorating her reservations about Faunas, but then she remembered, not all…

The airship rocked sharply as it was hit by a blow of staggering force. Weiss leaned heavily against her restraints, as loud cursing erupted from the cockpit. Weiss unbuckled herself and struggled towards the pilot, who was shouting furiously into his mike.

"I just don't know, we have no idea, does ground have any clue-" his conversation was cut off even as the response came back through his earpiece.

This time, Weiss could see the attack. A bright red slice of crescent shaped energy lanced up from the ground, striking one of the engines and sending the airship into an uncontrollable spin.

Weiss stumbled against the side of the airship, barely keeping herself on her feet before turning back to the pilot.

"My lady" the pilot said, surprisingly exceedingly calm, his white-knuckled grip on the wildly bucking control yoke giving any hint as to his barely suppressed fear.

"You must leave whilst you still can" he pressed a button on his control panel, lowering the access ramp at the rear of the ship.

"No!" Weiss exclaimed in an uncharacteristic show of concern,

"What about you?"

The pilot smiled reassuringly and patted the parachute stashed in the locker above his head.

"I'll be fine, it's you they're after"

"The back-up team from Beacon will meet you here" the pilot said, presenting Weiss with a datapad with a set of coordinates.

"Just keep moving and keep out of sight and you'll be fine. Now you should leave, before we get into any more trouble."

Weiss placed her hand on his shoulder and nodded before squaring her shoulders and throwing herself out of the airship into the inky blackness below.


	2. Chapter 2

Written as of; Volume 1 Chapter 14

The stars in the night sky twinkled brightly, some staying bright whilst others glimmered prettily in a pattern, almost seeming to chase across the sky.

'At least that's what it looks like to them.' Despite her situation, Weiss allowed herself a small smile to calm her shattered nerves as she used Air step to race toward the assigned meeting point for the recovery team from Beacon.

With Myrtenaster clutched firmly in her left hand and counting down the distance to the rendezvous point, she allowed her mind to wander.

The attack obviously came from the White Fang; that much was clear, the Fauna protest outside the gates was the obvious cover for some of the more violent members of their community to get close enough to launch this kind of attack.

Weiss grew slightly angry as she reflected on her father's role in all this. Under her father, the Fauna working under the Schnee's company were often treated unfairly, often downright brutally.

Knowing Fauna personally, Weiss didn't understand why her father was so prejudiced against their species. Fauna had saved her life repeatedly in her months at Beacon, and after she learned to trust her teammates more after being shown the error of her ways, she just learned that Fauna were different, not worse or lesser beings, just different.

Sometimes she wondered if she really should step in and take over after her Father, just to right all the wrongs he had inflicted upon the world.

Her musings were interrupted however, when her datapad beeped to tell her she was closing in on her destination.

She slowed her headlong rush, allowing herself to fall to the ground whilst still moving forward, much like her 'landing strategy' on the day of initiation.

The descent probably saved her. Her sudden change of direction caught her attacker off-guard, the burst of fire passing a few feet in front of her, not anticipating her loss in velocity; he had mis-timed the attack and in doing so had alerted her.

Weiss wasted no time; flipping so she faced the ground, she used Air step to propel herself toward the ground, cancelling out her momentum a second before she hit the ground.

Whirling, she saw with a shock that her assailant had managed to catch up to her, despite her previous speed.

Taking stock of her opponent's weapon, she saw, to her surprise, that he carried a Multi Action Dust Rapier, much like her own Myrtenaster. Unsurprisingly though, she saw it was inferior, only containing two slots, of which red and light blue dust glowed softly.

'Well, that explains the fire attack.' She mused.

'So he wants to play with fire? Fine, let's play!'

Switching her ammunition, she launched herself forward, swiping her blade in an elegant arc upwards, sending forth a pillar of fire.

Her opponent stabbed his blade into the ground, in a move Weiss knew well. A rush of ice erupted from the ground, meeting her pillar of fire. The two clashed in a whirlwind of steam and slivers, forcing Weiss to shield her eyes from the flash that blinded her.

Her eyes widened in shock as her adversary burst through the smoke, weapon arcing down towards her. Weiss pirouetted out of the way, sending out blasts of ice as she did so, hoping to ground him to a single spot.

Her opponent's ease at which he dodged her attacks gave Weiss a shocking realization.

'He knows my strategies, my moves, and how to dodge them, because he _uses _them!'

Gritting her teeth, Weiss changed to a form of Dust her opponent lacked, hoping his experience was only limited to the two variations of Dust he used, and waited patiently for his attack.

Her patience was rewarded as he charged, sending forth a stream of fire from his blade as he did so.

Weiss didn't flinch, and calling upon the power of her violet Dust, swept Myrtenaster up in an elegant arc, finishing with a flourish as she finished her full spin as she turned to watch the aftermath of her attack.

The wave of energy blew through the fire like it didn't exist, extinguishing the flames immediately upon contact.

This was then repeated with her assailant, upon contact with the energy, his blade shattered with the force of the blow, sending him tumbling backwards into the shadows of the tree line that rimmed the small clearing.

Catching her breath, Weiss looked down at her belt, where she had hurriedly stashed her datapad after avoiding the first attack. The display slowly pulsed green; indicating the clearing was the assigned coordinates for the team from Beacon.

Weiss slowed her breathing, using her Aura to heal the various cuts and bruises that she had sustained during her fight, feeling strength flow back into her aching muscles and joints.

Weiss froze as she heard a sharp noise behind her, and whirled to see a man in a black trench coat with red markings, his features obscured by a white mask that bore an eerie resemblance to a Grimm.

"Who are you?" Weiss asked, raising Myrtenaster before her, twisting the chamber as she spoke.

"Who I am is of no importance to you _Princess_!" the figure stated, practically spitting the last word.

"It is you we are interested in, my dear, so if you would put down your weapon, we can avoid any further…complications." He smoothly gestured to more men as they melted out of the trees around Weiss, brandishing weapons of various functions, all aimed at Weiss.

Weiss felt a cold sense of dread crawl up her spine. She wasn't used to fighting so many enemies solo, something her attacker had obviously factored in to his plan.

Suddenly, her datapad began emitting a rapid beeping noise, and Weiss surpressed a smile as she heard the whirr of an engine suddenly encroach upon the clearing.

The man in the mask looked sharply from Weiss up at the sky above, and Weiss used the opportunity to send a wave of violet energy straight at him by means of a distraction.

An airship roared overhead, and three silhouettes launched themselves from the belly of the craft, falling toward the clearing below.

The man in the mask reacted quickly to Weiss' attack, unsheathing his sword and holding it in front of him in a defensive stance, absorbing the attack as it came.

Weiss stared in shock as the red highlights on his cloak and mask began to glow a bright hue, which then dissipated as the man performed a slashing motion with his sword, sending an arc of red energy up at the three freefalling forms above.

The first figure punched straight down at the ground, leaving her suspended in the air for a second, leaving the energy to pass harmlessly underneath her.

The second threw a tendril of fibre onto a tree, using it as a anchor, she wrenched herself out of the way, the energy screaming below her as it had her teammate.

The third was not so lucky. Not having enough warning, the girl threw her weapon in front of her, hoping the length of it would save her from the effects of the attack. The girl was sent flying, landing in the lower boughs of a tree that lined the clearing.

Weiss stood straight as Yang and Blake landed beside her, weapons raised. The masked man took a single step forward, causing Blake to visibly flinch.

Weiss missed this, finally realising the origin of the attack that had bought her craft down.

The men surrounding them closed in, weapons raised. Weiss took a breath.

"Okay." She whispered, "Blake, take the masked one, ranged attacks are suicidal against him, which counts the rest of us out, Yang and I will take care of the rest, just keep him occupied until then."

Yang and Blake nodded; the latter somewhat reluctantly, but nevertheless, Blake used her after-image to cross the clearing in a split second, knocking the masked man away from the rest of his men, and Yang sprang into action.

With a yell, she leaped into the line of men, slamming her fist into the ground and sending her enemies flying.

Weiss turned and sent a barrage of ice at the other side of the clearing, encasing the men's legs and arms in ice and therefore leaving them unable to attack.

Weiss turned just in time to avoid a swipe from a broadsword, Air stepping out of the way and above her opponent. Reacting swiftly, the sword mecha-shifted into a rifle and the man fired off a series of shots, which Weiss barely managed to dodge.

Spinning her dust chamber, she sent a stream of fire at the man, sending him flying back into a tree.

Weiss straightened up, turning to assist Yang, hearing only too late the footsteps behind her, and hearing the swish of the Warhammer as it swung through the air, aiming for her head.

Not having time to block, or dodge, Weiss strengthened her Aura and braced herself for the blow. The blow that never came.

Weiss felt a body hurtle past her, the displaced air almost blowing Weiss away, then there was a clang of metal on metal, and Weiss opened her eyes.

Weiss stared in shock. Blocking the blow with the long handle of her weapon, was the final member of her team, Weiss was shocked that she had recovered so quickly, but she continued to be surprised by the girl in front of her.

Shaking off her shock, Weiss jabbed at her opponent's foot, the pain disrupting his concentration, and her teammate disengaged and swung the butt of her weapon hard into his chin, knocking him out.

Seeing that Yang had finished off the rest of the men, and seeing Blake walking calmly back into the clearing, Weiss allowed herself a small moment of respite, seeing that the danger had passed.

Her teammate looked at her in concern, worry filling her eyes.

"Weiss are you ok?" she asked tentatively.

Weiss opened her eyes and gave her a small smile, reassuring her.

"No, I'm fine."

A grin settled itself over her teammate's face, as Weiss spoke up again.

"Thank you Velvet."

* * *

**Author's Notes**

**Well, I have to say I am more than thrilled with the response I got with the previous chapter, I didn't even expect to get half the response that I did, so thank you so much for all the follows and favourites! **


	3. Chapter 3

Written as of; Volume 1 Chapter 14

**Edit 01/11/13; Because of the wonderful reveal in episode 15, I have had to accelerate my plans for the Faunus plot, so I have added some minor dialogue changes here and there, but they overall don't affect the story at this point, just different explanations for events really.**

* * *

Weiss jumped up the rock fall, following the rest of her team along the pre-destined path. Velvet led the group, being a Faunus, she had night vision, giving her an advantage over Weiss, and so she led.

The group had decided to travel out of the area by foot, after Weiss had recounted how easily her airship had been downed, theorising that their enemy would find it difficult to track them by night.

"Blake, do you hear that?"

The relative silence of the group was broken by Velvet, ears bolt upright, her face turned in the direction from where they had just travelled. Blake's Bow twitched, her ears hidden underneath straining in the direction Velvet gestured.

There was silence for a minute, before Blake and Velvet both stiffened, eyes widening.

"What is it?" asked Yang, eyes narrowing.

"They're tracking us." Replied Blake,

"We have to split up."

"No!" Weiss glared,

"We beat them once, we can beat them again!"

"Not this time, he won't hold back, he won't let you go like last time." Blake replied stiffly.

"You mean he just let us go?" exclaimed Velvet, eyes wide in shock,

"How did you manage that?"

"I asked." came the reply.

Being that Blake had been a member of the White Fang herself some months prior, it was understandable that she would still have friends, and favours left in the organisation, but Weiss had never thought her influence would extend that far.

Weiss opened her mouth to reply, but was swiftly cut off as Yang, who had been whispering furiously into her phone for the past few minutes, rejoined the conversation.

"Look, we don't have time to stand around and argue." she began;

"Weiss, it's you they want, so You have to leave, we can distract them."

Yang unwound Weiss' belt and tied it to her boot. Weiss raised an eyebrow questionably.

"For the scent." Yang explained.

"So they think you're still with us. Now, in town there's an old sweet shop, inside-"

"What! You want me to just go strolling into town and hope that no-one notices me?"

"Exactly." Yang replied;

"They won't think to look for you there, it's too obvious."

Weiss huffed in annoyance, but conceded the point, Yang was correct.

"Now, inside the old sweet shop there's someone who should be able to help you until we can double back to the town and get out of here, she-"

"Guys." interrupted Velvet nervously.

"Okay, okay!" Weiss nodded,

"Just go before they get here! GO!"

At Weiss' urging, the rest of her team tore off once more down the path, deeper into the forest. Weiss unbuckled Myrtenaster and used Air step to soar above the trees, heading for the bright lights of the town in the distance.

Weiss crept through the small town, head whipping this way and that, alert to the smallest sound. The town had a fairly sinister appearance, the shadows too long and the light too weak, giving ample opportunity for ambushes round the numerous blind corners Weiss walked.

'Don't be so childish' Weiss mentally chided herself. Her mind was playing tricks on her, responding to her fear of being the prey in an unfamiliar town. Weiss took a deep breath to calm her nerves, and opening them, her heart took a small leap of joy.

Right in front of her was the shop Yang mentioned, jars of cookies, doughnuts and that awful cereal piled high in the window, illuminated by the softly flickering lights that kept the town lit.

Why Yang of all people would know someone in this shop was beyond Weiss, but steeling herself, she squared her shoulders and marched smartly into the shop, the bell above the door ringing as she did so.

Weiss walked straight up to the counter, refusing to spend any more time in the shop than was necessary. Just the sight of all the sugar gave her cavities.

"Excuse me?" she enquired. The shop owner ignored her. Crossing her arms, Weiss tried again.

"I'm looking for somebody, I was told to come here by a Miss Xiao Long."

At this comment, there was a movement in the corner of Weiss' vision, and she turned toward it.

Beside her, sitting on a stool against the counter, a jar of cookies half empty on the counter, sat a figure draped in a red cloak, the hood up and obscuring her face. The figure had slightly raised their head in response to Weiss' comment and now spoke;

"I believe I can help you with that." The figure stated, turning to Weiss.

Weiss blinked in shock. Before her stood a girl around her height, with raven hair highlighted with streaks of red. Despite being around the same height, her face held a youthful innocence, demonstrated by her wide eyes. All of this Weiss took in, but what she was most surprised at was the hue of her eyes; they were silver.

Noticing that it had been several moments since the younger girl had spoken; Weiss gave a tiny shake of her head and answered;

"Do you know who I have to reach?"

Her reply was a smirk, the sides of her mouth tugging upwards in amusement.

"You don't know me?"

Weiss searched her memory, the red cloak was ringing a bell, but she couldn't quite place it, pushing it to one side, she answered;

"No, but I really have to meet this person."

"Okay!" The raven-haired girl gave a small bounce of excitement before turning to rush out of the door, but as she got to it, her hand froze on the handle.

"GET DOWN!" She threw herself toward Weiss, bundling her to the floor as the front of the shop exploded behind them. Weiss' vision was obscured by the red cloak that had suddenly been draped over her head, but gave a hiss of pain as a shard of glass lodged itself into her calf.

As the dust settled, the younger girl looked into Weiss' eyes, round with worry.

"Are you alright?" came the question, her voice strained from the fall.

Weiss blushed at the close contact, gesturing to the shard of glass embedded into her leg, which the younger girl firmly grasped in one hand.

"You can use Aura right?"

"Of course you dunce!"

"Okay, sorry." Muttered the younger girl, before tugging the shard out of Weiss' leg, eliciting a hiss of pain from the heiress. The shard was placed inside a pouch on the girl's belt, before she looked up at the front of the shop, the windows glassless.

"Not again." She murmured, just loud enough for Weiss to hear as she finished healing her leg and stood.

Looking out of the shop, a shape detached itself from the shadows, barrelling toward the pair. Weiss stumbled back over the wreckage, buying time to reach Myrtenaster, which had been knocked away from her by the initial explosion. Her partner took the opposite approach however, leaping forward to meet her opponent bare-handed.

The younger girl met the man in mid-air, effortlessly disarming him and giving him a two-footed kick to the face, sending him crumpling to the floor, landing in a wide stance, low to the floor, and embedded the blade in the ground, demonstrating a strength that was not revealed by her short stature.

Weiss stepped up beside her, Myrtenaster ready at her side, a little perplexed at the raven-haired girl's fighting abilities. Weiss' musing was interrupted however, when a harsh clapping emanated from the shadows ahead of her, and out of it stepped the man with the mask, clapping mockingly.

"Well done. I have to say I'm impressed that you eluded me for so long. Nice idea with the belt by the way; did your Faunus think of that one?" he deadpanned, ceasing his clapping.

Weiss stiffened,

"What have you done with them?"

"Oh they're otherwise … occupied." Came the reply.

"But don't fret; they'll be here in time to see me take you away. You know you can't win princess." He threatened, unsheathing his sword, twisting it so the moonlight shone off the blade, the wickedly sharp blade glinting, piercing the dark of the night.

Weiss' attention was distracted by the sound of a weapon mecha-shifting beside her. She glanced over and stepped back in shock. The girl next to her was wielding a red and black scythe, even larger than Nora's Magnhild, and had it levelled at the man.

Weiss' eyes widened as the gears in her head began to line up, the clues to the person's identity all bubbling to the surface of her mind; a red cloak … cookies … sniper-scythe … her connection to Yang.

Weiss looked at the girl beside her in a new light as she swung Crescent Rose round behind her and fired, propelling herself at the masked man.

Weiss was still too stunned to move, as her mind attempted to comprehend who had just saved her life and charged into battle solo against an enemy with far more experience and strength, Weiss' mind finally found a name as the first clash of steel on steel bought her back to her senses.

"Ruby Rose."


	4. Chapter 4

Written as of; Volume 1 Chapter 15

**A/N; Okay, because of chapter 15, I have gone back and changed some of my dialogue, nothing really important to the story, just different explanations for actions and events.**

* * *

Ruby launched herself at the masked man, using the recoil from Crescent Rose to swing it at the man's neck with breath-taking speed. The man moved just as fast, his blade a blur as he bought it up to block the strike.

Ruby eased off the force on her weapon, taking a small hop to send herself airborne, she pulled the trigger, firing Crescent Rose and sending herself flying backward toward Weiss.

The man's blade was wrenched from his grip, the sword being inside the curve of Crescent Rose; it had been forced out of his hand by the recoil, leaving him unarmed.

Ruby landed in a low stance, anticipating an attack from her momentarily weakened opponent, and he did not disappoint. He lunged forward with a speed that defied belief, becoming little more than a wisp of black in the night, aiming to reach his fallen blade.

Ruby levelled her scythe, preparing to blast him back from the pair, when a column of ice lanced across her field of vision, hitting the man and sending him reeling.

Ruby glanced over toward Weiss, Myrtenaster stabbed into ground, ice jutting out from the impact point, culminating in the large stalagmite at the apex of her attack.

Weiss stood up, waving her hand as she did so, causing the ice to shatter, clearing the battlefield.

Ruby gave a start as the masked man all but materialised on top of his sword, rolling to gain momentum he launched himself at Ruby, who fired twice, missing both times and was hit in the chin by the butt of the Man's sword. As Ruby staggered backward, Weiss rotated her chamber, causing her blade to glow red.

The man swung his blade, which Weiss blocked, her blade rebounding the blow effortlessly, staggering the man briefly.

Taking the initiative, Weiss rotated her chamber once more, sending five shining points of light to his neck, wrists and ankles, immobilising him.

Ruby suddenly re-entered the fight beside her, blade glinting in the moonlight, rushing the now helpless man.

Too late, Weiss saw the man reverse his grip on his sword, touching it to the circle of light that bound his sword arm by the wrist.

"Ruby, look out!"

Weiss rushed forward, calling upon her speed as she attempted to deviate Ruby's course. She was too late.

The man raised his arm, blade glowing and slashed at Ruby, sending her crumpling against the wave of red energy.

Ruby fell hard against the side of the shop, her Aura flaring briefly to protect her from the hit, but died quickly as she began to panic. She curled into a ball as her previous encounter with red energy raced through her mind.

Weiss rolled under the second burst of red energy, firing off ice blasts as she went. The am was free with both arms now, and set about absorbing the energy on his ankles and neck.

Creating a wall of ice to buy herself time, Weiss rushed over to Ruby, who was rolled into the foetal position, hands clutched over her knees and murmuring repetitively to herself.

"Red dust … Red dust … Red dust."

"Ruby!" hissed Weiss;

"Pull yourself together you dunce, we don't have much time!"

"Red dust … Red dust."

Weiss' brow furrowed as she recounted Yang's story of how Ruby had been injured by a criminal prior to Yang's stay at Beacon. He had exploded a shard of red dust in her face and only the timely arrival of their Professor Goodwitch had saved her.

"Look here, you're my only chance of getting out of here alive, so I'm going to be nice."

Weiss firmly took Ruby's head in her own and forced her head upwards. Ice met Silver as the two stared into each other's eyes. Weiss held the contact as the sheer panic vanished from Ruby's eyes and a new emotion begin to shine through.

Before she could determine Ruby's state however, the moment was shattered both figuratively and literally. Weiss looked up sharply as a beam of red light shattered her wall into thousands of tiny ice fragments, and the man stepped through the hail, blade outstretched.

Weiss rose, slowed by her awkward position bedside Ruby, but she knew it wouldn't be fast enough. Fortunately for her, she didn't need to be.

In a burst of rose petals, Ruby had crossed the distance between Weiss and the man, Crescent Rose raised high for a strike. Unfortunately she wasn't prepared for the man to swing his sword whilst he was still out of range. Somehow, Ruby was thrown back as though she was hit by the blade itself, rolling with the impact and landing on her feet, scythe out behind her.

The man turned his attentions to Weiss, and began walking threateningly in her direction, steps resonating against the cold cobblestone beneath his feet.

He stopped suddenly when gunfire pockmarked the ground in front of him.

Velvet soared out of the darkness, her Bo staff Vitam Initium gripped firmly in her hands. She spun, planting one end into the man's chest and pulling the trigger. The man was blasted backwards, tumbling away from Weiss.

The man quickly regained his feet, ready to strike, but reconsidered when Blake and Yang landed either side of Weiss. This coupled with the sound of police sirens, which were nearly on top of them, forced him to weigh his options, realising they were not in his favour.

"Give it up Adam!" Blake called across the courtyard, amber eyes narrowed dangerously at the man. Adam gave a laugh in reply;

"Well well, stepping in again are we Blake? Don't get too friendly with her, don't you remember what her family does to us?"

Blake's bow twitched slightly and Yang, sensing her discomfort moved protectively in-between her and Adam, a furious scowl on her face.

"You can't keep dodging me forever Schnee, your delay tactics won't save you forever, you just wait, and we'll get you soon." Adam threatened, gaze drifting over the assembled members of Weiss' team. Adam then sheathed his sword and leapt, deep into the forest ringing the town just as the police finally appeared, guns drawn, but with no enemy in sight.

Weiss glanced guiltily at Blake as Yang rushed over to envelop Ruby in a spine-crushing Bear hug, almost knocking the younger girl clean of her feet.

Velvet looked questioningly into Weiss' eyes as the white girl pressed a button on her datapad, calling the airship for pickup. Sighing, she turned to the Faunus, and gave her explanation;

"He's right, there's not exactly not any love lost between us, and no side is perfect, but we don't hate _all_ Faunus, it's just hard to like an organisation that has been responsible for the deaths of friends." She turned to look at Blake;

"No offense."

"None taken." Came the reply, although she still looked downcast,

"They turned out to be nothing like what I anticipated when I signed up, it was just peaceful protests, but then …" Her voice trailed off and her eyes glazed with sadness. Luckily, Yang had finished suffocating Ruby, and had come over to see the shuttle land. Seeing the state Blake was in, she immediately put her arm round her partner and led her into the ship after saying goodbye to Ruby. Weiss hung back, letting Velvet board the ship ahead of her, and turned to speak to Ruby.

"I guess I should thank you, you saved my life." She said, fixing Ruby with a stare. Under the Heiress' gaze, the younger girl began to shuffle nervously from one foot to the other, and a blush began to seep across her cheeks.

"Well, I couldn't just leave you to get hurt could I?" she replied chipperly,

"And any friend of Yang's is a friend of mine!" she finished with a small bounce.

"Weiss attempted to suppress a small smile at the girl's attitude. She was so innocent looking that one would not expect her to have as much skill as she had on the battlefield. Musing to herself, Weiss boarded the airship and sat down next to Velvet as it took off, speeding back into the sky.

Ruby watched the airship until it faded from view, and turned and skipped away down the alleyway, her heart lighter than a feather. Seeing her sister and her friends had eased some of the burden her heart had been carrying since her injury, and she now had something to help her overcome her fear, or at least learn to control it.

The clack of shoes on cobblestone jolted Ruby from her reflections, startling her. A man stepped out in front of her, holding a mug of all things. Ruby attempted to discern his features, but his face was obscured by the shadow of the walls on either side of her. Panicked, Ruby extended Crescent Rose,

"Who are you?"

"Do not fear child, I mean you no harm, although I strongly suspect that I would not be able to inflict any upon you even if I tried."

Ruby cautiously put her weapon away, suspicion still laced in her voice, her panic ebbing.

"You saw me?"

"Of course, and a very impressive display it was too. Tell me are you training to become a Huntress?"

"Yes sir, I study at Signal."

The man stepped out of the shadows, and Ruby gasped as she recognised the man in front of her, the familiar logo on his mug giving no doubts as to his identity.

"If you are willing to take it, I have a way into Beacon." He smiled,

"And I believe this will work out in both our interests."

* * *

**Author's Note; Phew, the longest chapter so far! I really hope you are liking the story, and I want to say a massive thanks to those who have reviewed; it means so much that you would actually bother to spend the time to tell me what you think and I thank you from the bottom of my Heart. Oh, if you are wondering what Vitam Initium is, it's Latin for Life beginning, as Bunnies are associated with Spring! Anyway, Volume finale coming up, so I guess it's time to grit your teeth and wait for Thursday!**


	5. Chapter 5

Written as of; Volume 1 Chapter 16

Ruby looked out of the window of the airship, seeing the spires of Beacon slowly come into view. Running over her conversation with the man in her head, she recalled the final line of instructions he had given her, those ones being the ones she was worried about;

_"And if this event should come to pass, you will do whatever she says, have you got that? If you are foolish enough to let this happen, this will be your task understand?"_

_"Yes sir."_

Ruby was jolted out of her reverie by the airship touching down. Stepping out of the craft, she was met by Professor Goodwitch, who wasted no time on formalities.

"Come with me." She ordered, immediately turning on her heel and starting toward the school. Remembering her benefactor's words, Ruby followed.

* * *

"Uuurrrgghh! This is so boring!" Yang had finally had enough of studying for the upcoming field assignment given to the class by ProfessorPort. Yang sat with the rest of her team and JNPR round one of the larger tables in the Cafeteria, just having eaten Breakfast. Yang was sitting next to Blake and Velvet, attempting to finish a paper on the vulnerabilities of the most common Grimm species, which Blake and the rest of the table, bar Nora, had finished.

"We already took out a Nevermore and a Deathstalker, surely a few Beowolves and Ursa can't be hard? Why do we have to do a theory paper when we obviously have the best practical score in the year?"

Weiss sighed and looked up from cleaning Myrtenaster to answer;

"Yang, we have to prove our worth both on the field and in the classroom, both contribute to our grade."

"I know, I know, but still-"

Yang was silenced by a look from Blake, who was attempting to quietly read a book, a normal occurrence for the raven-haired Faunus, and started scratching at her page once again. Velvet looked up from her scroll, amusement sparking in her eyes, earning a glare from Yang. Ren was quietly giving Nora tips on her assessment, his mug balanced on the palm of his hand, whilst Pyrrha and Jaune discussed tactics for their incursion into whatever Grimm filled forest Port decided to send them to this time.

Weiss, looking round the table, couldn't help but feel that something was missing, and in the corner of her eye, she saw a flash of red, outside in the courtyard, but when she leaned over to get a better look, no-one was there. Passing it off as a trick of the light, she set about cleaning Myrtenaster once more.

* * *

In the courtyard, a bush in one of the small plots of land moved, the top shifting upward ever so slightly. Ruby peeked out from underneath her hood, checking that Weiss was no longer looking out of the window. She had seen Weiss _just_ before the heiress had been able to spot her, and had hidden. Straightening up, she stood, the bush rising with her, and she stepped off of the raised bed.

As she stepped off the bed, her cloak relinquished contact with one of the bushes in the bed. Immediately, the bush around her faded back into the bright red cloak she always wore. She smiled to herself, her cloak had come in handy even sooner than she thought, and had worked better than she had hoped.

Her benefactor had infused her beloved cloak with nature dust, the green substance providing the ultimate stealth device. Whilst the cloak was in contact with any form of flora, Ruby could replicate that all over her cloak, effectively making her part of the landscape. It was this feature that had enabled her to protect herself from Weiss' gaze, and she had a thought that it would come in useful more times than she anticipated.

Professor Goodwitch had continued across the courtyard ahead of her, and gave Ruby a small smile as she caught up.

"Impressive." She congratulated Ruby upon seeing her disappearing act,

"Although I would expect no less from him." She continued, climbing the stairs to the dorms ahead of Ruby.

Reaching the top level of the dorms, professor Goodwitch handed Ruby an electronic scroll and opened the door.

"That scroll has been coded to the aura of your objective; you will be able to track them with it. This dorm is near your sister's room as requested, but we have not been able to place you any nearer, for the fear of your presence being discovered, I trust this will not be a problem?"

"No miss, thank you." Ruby replied, closing the door behind her.

Ruby looked round the room, to all intents and purposes; it was a normal Dorm room, complete with four beds. Ruby guessed that this was so if anybody stumbled into her room, it wouldn't look out of the ordinary, despite being on the top floor by itself.

Ruby was distracted from her new dwellings by a moan from her stomach. Suppressing a sigh, Ruby looked at her clock, judging the time.

"I wonder if the cafeteria does cookies?" she mused to herself, loosing the battle with her stomach.

* * *

"Well, this doesn't happen everyday!" Yang grinned, waltzing down the corridor in glee.

"Calm down, we still have to complete the required readings." Weiss responded, her bag swinging from her shoulder as she turned around to glare icily at her blonde teammate.

"So?" responded Yang, her glee not being dampened by this development,

"At least we don't have to listen to Port blabber on about himself for an hour!"

ProfessorPort had been absent for the day, no doubt setting up the transport to the location for the field trip later in the week.

The team was currently moving towards the Cafeteria, as the library was closed for the day, Yang having set off a domino effect with the bookcases after waking up Blake the previous day. Needless to say, Blake did not take kindly to being woken up, and in a rare event, had panicked, sending Yang into the nearest bookcase.

Weiss turned into the Cafeteria, which was empty, all the other teams having gone back to their dorms to catch up on their homework, leaving the room eerily quiet.

Velvet, coming up the rear, suddenly stiffened; a look of confusion on her face. Blake turned to her before she too stopped and looked toward the empty kitchen.

"Isn't it too early for lunch?" enquired Velvet, confusion clouding her features.

"Yeah, why do you ask?" Yang replied, turning to give the brunette her full attention.

"Because there's someone in the kitchen." Blake whispered, her bow twitching.

Yang's eyes sparkled with amusement, before grabbing Blake and sneaking toward the main doors into the kitchen, dragging the raven-haired Faunus behind her.

Weiss sighed and motioned to Velvet, heading for the side entrance on the far side of the cafeteria.

* * *

'Why did it have to be them?" Ruby groaned inwardly, scrambling for the door on where she saw Yang and Blake enter a few moments before. For all the teams to venture into the Cafeteria, it had to be her sister's, and with a pair of Faunus as well.

Relying on the fact that Blake had no idea of how long she had been there, Ruby attempted to skirt around the pair, and exit by the same door they had entered by, as they would not think to double check an area they already searched.

With the jar of cookies and the glass of milk hooked onto her belt, the huntress quietly made her way back to the door she had entered by, taking care not to make any more noise than she had to, lest Blake pinpoint her position amongst the rows of stoves and ovens.

Not daring to vault the counters, Ruby settled for sliding under those she could, and finding a way round those she could not, all the while being careful not to touch anything with the jars, being that they were made of glass, they would surely make noise.

Spotting a flash of snow white hair, Ruby froze, being that Weiss was just a few feet in front of her, all thoughts of stealth banished at the proximity, leaving only one thought;

'Hide.'

Panicking, Ruby dove for the door, ducking under a workbench as she went. Due to being half-blinded with panic, she failed to notice the saucepan hanging on a hook underneath the workbench, one that would normally have been at waist height if one were standing.

Needless to say, Ruby was not standing, instead meeting the saucepan with her face. A large bonging sound echoed through the kitchen, followed by a clatter as Ruby pushed on, tearing the saucepan from its hook, leaving it to rattle around on the floor.

Finally reaching the door, Ruby yanked it open and tore toward the corridor. Resisting the urge to use her semblance and thus revealing her presence, she looked for an alternate route, as it would not take long for Yang or Weiss to reach the door. Despair set into her as she saw no nearer exits, and the tables were not much of a hiding spot. Fear crept into silver eyes as the first sounds of pursuit began to emanate from the kitchen, coming ever closer to the door.

* * *

*Thud!*

"Ow!"

Weiss shook her head, clearing the stars from her vision as she recovered. Hearing the dull crash followed by the clatter, Weiss had jumped, hitting her head on the worktop above her, stunning her briefly. To her credit, Velvet, despite having superior hearing, didn't seem fazed by the noise, ears stretched toward the ever-increasing sound of panicked footsteps making for the door.

Recovered, Weiss peeked over the counter just in time to see Blake and Yang vault over a worktop to her right, the two blocked from the door by a massive oven in the centre of the room. Weiss took after the pair, Velvet close behind her, aiming to reach the door as it swung shut, leaving a few seconds before Blake reached it again and swung it open.

Weiss looked round the Cafeteria, where she was shocked to see … nothing.

"What!" cried Yang,

"No-one can move that fast! Not even Ruby!"

"Not even?" Weiss inquired.

"Her semblance," Yang said by way of explanation, "but she can't be here."

Weiss sighed, picking a lone cookie up off the floor and looking at it dejectedly.

"Anything?" she enquired, turning to Velvet.

"Nothing out of the ordinary." Came the reply.

"Well let's ask Nora!" suggested Yang, an evil grin spreading across her face.

"Nora's more of a Pancake girl." Her raven-haired partner pointed out, grunting in surprise when Yang threw her arm around her shoulders, dragging the Faunus toward the dorms. Velvet followed them, giggling as Weiss sighed for what seemed to be the umpteenth time that day, following her team out of the Cafeteria.

* * *

A minute passed in the empty Cafeteria, before a large gasp was heard and Ruby fell from the large chandelier illuminating the room, onto one of the tables below her.

Ruby stayed still, on her hands and knees on the table, taking in deep lungfulls of precious oxygen. She had elected to hold her breath whilst clinging onto the chandelier, knowing that in the empty room, Blake and Violet would pinpoint her immediately.

Ruby checked her haul; both the milk and the cookies were still present, but the lid of the cookie jar had been knocked off during her desperate dash for the door, spilling one out onto the floor as she jumped for the chandelier.

Trudging back to her room, Ruby wondered what she had got herself in for, if even getting lunch was going to be this hectic, she dreaded daily life keeping in the shadows.

* * *

As night fell, Ruby steeled herself for what she had to do. Leaping up onto the windowsill, she hauled herself up, silently bringing her feet up, leaving her sitting leaning against the frame, one leg in and one out.

She looked over at the slumbering form of her sister, smiling softly as she saw the covers pushed down the bed, her sister's Aura keeping her warm throughout the night.

Next to her slept Blake, her ears twitching slightly in her sleep, the ribbon that in the day covered her ears draped over her headboard, swaying softly in the breeze.

Velvet's long ears, in contrast to Blake's, were still as she slept, only the rise and fall of her chest any indication of life at all, such was she asleep.

Ruby sat content, watching her sister and her friends slumbering peacefully, happy that she was able to see her once again, if not speak to her or any other interaction.

Finally, sweeping the room, Ruby's gaze settled upon the face of the slumbering heiress, her white hair out of its ponytail, spread out on the pillow behind her like a curtain of snow.

Unlike the others, Weiss had moved her bed into the far corner of the room, granting herself as much distance as she could from the rest of her team. Yang had explained during one of her earlier phone calls that this was due to the white-haired girl disliking the Faunus, for her family's history with the White Fang was far from friendly. Yang had explained that it had taken a while for Weiss to warm to the brunette Faunus, given that the only contact she had with Faunus beforehand was stories of raids in the night and empty places at the dinner table.

When she found the sweet Faunus to be nothing like she anticipated, she gradually warmed to her team, so much so that, whilst in the middle of an argument Blake had revealed her being a Faunus, and a member of the White Fang to the rest of the group, Weiss had taken it better than expected, all things considered.

Weiss had curbed her anger just long enough to listen to Blake's story, and at the end, had seen a kindred spirit, someone looking to better the world around her, but constrained by those around her, limiting her freedom and sense of individuality.

Weiss still hadn't moved her bed back, to which Ruby attributed more to wounded pride and habit rather than any ill will toward her team, but Yang recently only divulged that she had been able to engage Weiss in conversation without her being snapped at by the heiress.

The Weiss that Ruby met was not far different from the Weiss Yang had described to her all those months ago, a small, scared girl hiding behind a frosty exterior, fearing anyone get close lest the White Fang tear then from her life, taking a piece of her heart with them.

As she stared into the sleeping face of Weiss Schnee Ruby felt something; something that had been stripped of her six months ago and replaced by nightmare visions of flashes of red and searing pain; she felt peace. Staring into Weiss' eyes as she calmed her, Ruby had felt the icy blue depths quashing the fire of fear that had blazed in her heart for far too long, that no-one hat succeeded in, or even tried to extinguish.

As she sat there, Weiss rolled over onto her side, the side that faced Ruby, fidgeting in her sleep. Ruby looked on, concerned, but unable to comfort the heiress, lest she reveal her presence.

Weiss whimpered briefly, then her rhythmic breathing ceased as she opened her ice blue eyes, staring directly at Ruby.

* * *

**Author's Note; Well, that was my longest Chapter yet! I broke 2,000 words, yay! I would like to thank again everyone who has followed and favourite thus far, it really gives me joy to know there are others who like this! Okay, on another note, I had intended Velvet's weapon Vitam Initium to be almost near identical to Sun's weapon, but I guess I'll have to change that now eh? I don't know if I should be a) annoyed that my idea for the Velvet competition has gone up in smoke or; b) pleased that I came up with an idea that RT thought good enough to implement into the show. I'm going with the latter. I have just one thing to say about Penny: OP much?**


	6. Chapter 6

Written as of; Volume 1 Chapter 16

**Author's Note; Ok everybody, I apologise for the wait, but my recent discovery of Sword Art Online has blown a considerable hole in my writing schedule, and also the sheer length of this Chapter took me by surprise so sorry. Also, it has come to my attention that due to the exponential increase in Chapter length, my weekly schedule will slip somewhat, as I have no desire to rush and cram the story as I want it to be at least halfway decent for you!**

* * *

The icy blue pools of Weiss' eyes gazed drowsily into Ruby's, stripping the huntress of her rational thought. All of her worries melted away to be replaced by the same feeling of peace and warmth that she had experienced last time, funny that ice could instil such warmth in her heart.

All of this took place over the span of just a second, and Ruby saw something begin to seep back into Weiss' eyes. The heiress was becoming coherent.

Finally realising the nature of her situation, Ruby threw herself backwards out of the window, pulling her cloak around her as she fell. She landed softly and pressed the hem of her cloak to the bush next to her, feeling leaves spread across the material. Ruby slowed her breathing, trying to remain as still as possible, so as to keep up her disguise. When she remained still for a few minutes and heard no noises from above, she risked a peek up at the windowsill. Weiss was not staring down at her, so Ruby relaxed and stood up, letting out a deep breath of relief. Leaping up into a tree, she resolved to stay near her sister's room, even if she could not see her, she would still be within sight.

Pausing at this thought, Ruby wrapped her cloak around herself and pulled her knees up into her chest, bark spreading up to replace the red material. When this was accomplished, Ruby took out her scroll and opened it, lowering the brightness once she recovered from her temporary blindness.

Without the presence of others to comfort her, Ruby pulled up the files that held all of the school's information on her sister and her friends as possible. Also, the mole programme that had been installed had granted her with the personal logs of all four of the girls, and those of team JNPR, who had become quite close to Yang and the others throughout their time at Beacon.

'Well,' Ruby mused to herself as she started flipping through the folders; 'being a secret agent of sorts does have its perks after all.'

During the early morning hours as Ruby examined her scroll, her sister's life, and that of her friends had been any thing but normal, or whatever passed for normal at a training academy such as Beacon anyway.

First up was the eight's fight against both the Nevermore and the Deathstalker, with the two teams pairing up on opposing sides of the destroyed bridge to fight the Grimm. She watched the surveillance footage of the fight from an aerial perspective, whilst still being able to hear the combatants as though she was still on the ground.

This surprised her, but she didn't decide to worry about it, for the fight it displayed was breathtaking. She was impressed by Jaune's quick thinking and communication with his teammates, taking down a Grimm as large and dangerous as a Deathstalker was no easy feat, to say the least.

But if she was impressed when she saw Jaune, her jaw threatened to divorce her face when she saw Yang. Jumping into the open mouth of the Nevermore was a _stupid, stupid _idea, something that Yang would totally do.

Surprisingly, it worked, her distraction giving Weiss enough time to freeze the avian Grimm's tail to the rocks at the base of the cliff.

Now came the interesting part, with the team reassembled, Blake and Yang stretched Gambol Shroud between two columns, and Velvet jumped back on it, using it as a slingshot. Weiss manifested a glyph behind Velvet, storing her kinetic energy. Weiss then jumped up onto Velvet's staff and released the energy, sending the pair skyward. During their ascent, Velvet fired the rifle to maintain their speed, then gave Weiss a final boost, dropping back and using her Aura to accelerate the heiress toward the trapped bird. Weiss' blade glowed a brilliant white, the runes along Myrtenaster responding to the energy being poured into it.

With a single thrust, Weiss speared straight through the Nevermore's neck, causing it to choke for a second before finally becoming still, the smoke already beginning to rise from the fatal wound.

Ruby skipped ahead after that to one of the more recent posts; a journal by Pyrrha.

It detailed her concerns for her team leader and not-so-subtle crush, Jaune Arc. Ruby hadn't been surprised at his position, or the amazon's feelings toward him after reading some of the other journals and the psych profile. It turned out that during a trip to Forever Fall, Jaune had been bullied into smashing a jar of sap over Pyrrha by another team, CRDL. The leader, Cardin, had then proceeded to let loose an entire swarm of rapier wasps on her.

At that point, Jaune had come to his senses, putting himself in between Pyrrha and the swarm. Jaune had then proceeded to nearly exhaust his Aura protecting his teammate. Unfortunately, the sap that had been spilled on Pyrrha attracted one of the more dangerous Grimm; a Major Ursa.

Foolishly, or bravely, depending on how you look at it, Jaune threw himself in the beast's path, taking the hit intended for Pyrrha. The rest of team JNPR managed to drive the Ursa off, but Jaune had suffered grievous injuries, leading him to be hospitalised for weeks.

After the event, CRDL had been officially expelled from Beacon for almost causing the death of a student in a non-combat situation. After Jaune had been released from the hospital, he had been inseparable from Pyrrha and their relationship had … deepened since the accident.

Ruby flicked back to one of Yang's recent posts, detailing how Weiss had started to come around, or as she called it, 'thawing'. Ruby felt herself fortunate that she had the good fortune to run into Weiss _after_ she had become more hospitable, their first interaction could have gone _very_ differently.

Ruby looked up from the scroll, seeing the first signs of dawn begin to creep over the horizon, Ruby dropped from the tree, moving back to her own room, to get some sleep before her lessons started in the afternoon.

* * *

An insistent buzzing awoke Ruby from her slumber. Ruby rolled over to intercept the noise and rolled out of bed onto the floor.

"Oomph!"

Ruby sat up and retrieved her scroll from her bedside table, opening it to silence the annoying sound. She sat up a little straighter when the impassive face of Glynda Goodwitch appeared on the screen.

"Good afternoon Mrs Rose, I trust you slept well?"

"Yes Miss."

"Good" she replied stiffly,

"I have been informed of sightings of Roman Torchwick in the docks, as this may be related to your objective I wish for you to investigate this, I know that this may be difficult for you, but I have the utmost faith that you can pull this off."

Ruby's face drained of all colour as the scroll went dark, the flashing red burst cascading through her mind once more. The thought of facing Torchwick again solo scared her like nothing else ever had before. She couldn't even ask her sister for assistance, despite being closer to her than she had been in months.

Her panic began to overwhelm her, she began hyperventilating, taking short sharp breaths, her palms becoming clammy, with her body beginning to shake visibly, a single thought crossed her mind;

Ice.

Ruby capitalised on that image, the comforting sensation easing the sheer, unbridled panic that had been coursing through her, but not expelling it. The physical image worked best, and as she did not have the originals, she opted for the next best thing.

Ruby opened her scroll and accessed the internet, quickly finding the image she was looking for. Shakily rising from her place on the floor, she scrambled over to the small printer in the corner of the room. Printing off the image, she folded it carefully into one of the pouches on her belt.

Taking a deep breath to steel herself, she picked up Crescent Rose from beside the doorway and stepped out into the corridor.

* * *

Ruby walked the streets of downtown Vale, following the GPS on her scroll to the point where Goodwitch said Torchwick had been seen.

Ruby wished she had been here to see the festival, but she still had been too traumatised to even watch the proceedings, for she knew Weiss used dust based attacks, she was unable to even watch her sister's team in the tournament. The faint vestiges of the celebrations hung in the air, the odd streamer off a lamppost, some bunting still strung up along shops, at least she could imagine what it must have been like, but it left a dull ache, something that should have been.

Ruby strode through the crowds, hand clasped around the picture in her pouch, straight toward the site where, Roman Torchwick was said to have been. Ruby blinked as a bead of sweat rolled off her forehead and dropped onto the hard cobble ground with a tinkle.

She stiffened, clutching the paper tighter in her hand, trying to calm her nerves. The sun beat down on her back, adding to the drops of … wait.

Ruby looked at the sky, then laughed out loud; the sun was high in the sky and bright, the perspiration was not due to her frayed nerves of heat and fire and pain, just that which came naturally, due to the temperature of a warm summer's day.

Ruby skipped off down the street, arms spread wide, with a wider grin on her face, as ice surrounded her heart, quenching the fires of a time gone by.

* * *

"Weiss!"

Weiss blinked, then frantically rolled to the side, the silver weapon embedding itself in the ground beside her. The heiress looked up to see her partner gracefully land on her weapon, her brunette hair settling around her shoulders.

The pair were sparring as part of Professor Goodwitch's class, the pairs having been split and told to only stop when their Aura reached critical. Blake was just toying with Yang, the Faunus using her semblance to all but teleport round their part of the ground, dodging shots with ease as Yang got more and more frustrated. Jaune and Pyrrha were having a more traditional fight, the blonde-haired boy not being so much of a pushover as Weiss first thought, finally being able to give as good as he got. Just as her thoughts turned to Nora and Ren, a question from her own partner jolted her thoughts back to the present.

"Is there anything wrong Weiss?" asked Velvet,

"Normally you're up before the rest of us, but Yang had to physically get you out of bed this morning, and you know you're in trouble if you have to be woken up by Yang." She continued, amusement curving her mouth into a small smile.

"Well ..." Weiss sighed, and began to explain;

"I woke up in the middle of the night last night." She began.

Velvet hopped down off of her weapon, wrenching it from the ground and placing it across her back. The Faunus' eyes widened, but she knew better than to question the white haired girl. Weiss had only recently thawed to the rest of her team, and Velvet did not want her to throw up her ice wall once more by delving too deep into the girl's past.

"I had just woken up, so naturally I was not … fully awake." She continued, seeming frustrated at herself.

"But I know what I saw. I only saw a shadow, as the moonlight streaming in through the window prevented me from discerning any other features. It was a figure, although I could only see the head and shoulders clearly, and their legs when they fell."

"Fell?" echoed Velvet, brow furrowing in confusion.

"Just as I was able to get things into focus, they jumped out of the window." Weiss elaborated,

"But when I went to check there was no-one there, just the plants and trees that are normally on the ground outside, and there was no-one hanging above either.

"Speed …" mused Velvet.

"Just like yesterday, no-one in sight!" realised Weiss.

Velvet took up a defensive stance as Goodwitch started back toward the pair,

"We should report this to Ozpin at the end of the day." Velvet declared, snapping her staff out and twirling it before her.

"Agreed," responded Weiss,

"We have to tell him we have a potentially unauthorised student in the school."

Weiss took up her stance as Velvet separated her staff, twirling the Nunchucks before her, propelling her at her partner.

What the pair failed to notice was Goodwitch pulling out her scroll and tapping at the screen, a look of concern spreading across her face, as the pair whirled and danced around each other in a flurry of blows.

* * *

The building was semi-derelict, just as she predicted, the windows of the dwelling were green with mould, those that were not broken were too covered by the green fur to see through. It emanated an aura of sickness at odds with the bright day.

Ruby looked down at her scroll, confirming the co-ordinates on her GPS. Yep, this was the place Torchwick was last seen. Ruby looked back up and stepped onto the porch, tensing as the step under her creaked ominously.

"Come back here you!"

"Oh come on, you'll have to be faster than that to catch me old man!"

Ruby was interrupted from her examination of the house by a commotion around the corner. Pausing with her hand on the doorknob, she looked back over her shoulder, just in time to see a figure with scraggly blonde hair come screeching round the corner. He wore a white shirt, unbuttoned so it billowed behind him. Around his hands and wrists, he wore red gauntlets, although much simpler than Yang's weapons.

All of this Ruby took in at a glance, but it was the tail that caught her attention. This, coupled with the basket of apples clutched in his arms ignited a small spark of fury in Ruby. Reaching out to the Faunus, she hissed;

"In here!"

"What?"

"Do you want to get caught?"

"Fair point."

Ruby wrenched the door open, ducking inside as the Faunus leaped into the hallway beside her. Ruby softly closed the door and put up a hand to her lips for silence as she heard the sounds of a pair of footsteps round the corner and continue off into the distance.

With the immediate threat gone, she quickly scanned the rooms for any other occupants before turning to the Faunus in front of her, who already had his hand raised toward her.

"Well, I think thanks is in order." He said, taking Ruby's hand in her own and shaking it.

"O-oh, well …" Ruby stuttered, taken aback at the ease at which he had taken to her.

"But why did you help me?" came the question.

Ruby sighed, it was a question that had been asked many times, and she still had to keep giving the answer;

"The fact that you have a tail or an extra set of ears doesn't change who you are. People can be so stubborn sometimes, besides, you were only trying to get something to eat."

"Or maybe I just fancied apples on my way past the shop?"

Ruby fixed him with a hard stare.

"No, you got me, yes, I haven't had anything to eat since yesterday, happy? By the way, the name's Sun Wukong."

"Ruby Rose, nice to meet you."

As the pair shook hands once more, Sun seemed to remember something;

"You're not with those criminals, are you?" he asked, his hands raised in a fighting stance.

"No, no!" cried Ruby, waving her hands in front of her face, eyes tightly shut. Opening them, she enquired;

"But why would you think that?"

Sun visibly relaxed, dropping his hands to his sides before gesturing to the front door.

"I've seen them coming here for a few weeks now, and they-"

"Do you see what they bring here?"

"They bought that crate of Dust here that one time after the hit on the Port."

"Really?" Ruby asked, suddenly scooting forwards and looking Sun straight in the eye, making him stumble back against the door.

"Take me."

* * *

Weiss and Velvet stood smartly before Ozpin's desk, the man himself sitting sipping his ever-present coffee mug. The office itself was not like Weiss expected, yes it was by far the largest teacher's office, but the architecture was more in line with the classrooms, as if Ozpin did not want to have something that was refused to the rest of his staff; the columns on the side of the room were basic and smooth, the windows simple panes of glass, the only difference being that everything was larger, Ozpin's desk was at least twice the size of any other teacher's desk, just one sign of the authority of the man before her.

Ozpin set his mug down and crossed his fingers, looking at the pair in front of him.

"This is very troubling." He finally spoke, his brow furrowing.

"When did you first catch sight of this figure?"

"Well … sight wouldn't be the word I would use, we first caught the intruder yesterday in the kitchens; we gave chase, but they vanished before we could catch them." Weiss elaborated, glancing at Velvet, who nodded in affirmation.

"It is unfortunate that you failed to apprehend this figure, the last thing we need right now is some unknown running around the school." He rubbed his temples tiredly before looking up once more;

"But what I am most concerned about is the events of last night, you said that you were unable to make out their face?"

"No sir."

"And you, miss Scarlatina, you were unable to make out anything?"

"No, sorry sir." Velvet paused, "although I was able to identify traces of Nature dust, I believe that may have covered the other traces."

Ozpin smiled, carefully hiding the expression from the two girls in front of him. Looking at Weiss, he continued;

"And again, as you looked out the window, there was no-one there, correct?"

"Yes sir." Weiss responded.

"So I can only assume that we are dealing with someone with whom the semblance of speed has presented itself, correct?"

"That's the conclusion that we came to sir."

"Right, I will caution all the staff to be on the lookout."

Dismissing the pair, he waited until they had left the room and then bought up the monitor on his desk. Pulling up a window to full size, the concerned face of Glynda Goodwitch appeared on the screen.

"Did you hear all of that?" he enquired.

"Yes, it seems the situation is not as grave as we feared."

"Indeed, the cloak seems to be working just as planned, and Miss Rose seems to have had the foresight not to use her semblance to reveal herself."

"Yes." She replied curtly,

"Do you really think it was wise to reveal her semblance, this narrows down the possibilities you know."

"As they had already come to the conclusion themselves, I thought it would be suspicious to contradict them."

"Fair enough." Came the reply,

"I would contact Miss Rose, but she appears to be at the co-ordinates, so I shall inform her of this development as she returns, I would not like to distract her in a combat situation."

* * *

"You said it would be a good idea to go in the back way!"

"It was! They just thought of it first!"

Sun blocked a slash with his staff, sending the Faunus sprawling. He had led Ruby round the back way, not expecting them to be discovered, but, as their current predicament was testament to their failure.

They had stealthily run in the back, but had been discovered almost immediately, members of the White Fang packing up dust into crates and loading it onto an airship. Upon seeing the intruders, one of the leaders had taken a gun to some poor unfortunate girl that had happened to stumble upon the group, after following Ruby and Sun in after they surprised her on the street, using her as a hostage.

The battle had gone in Ruby and Sun's favour, unsurprisingly, the Faunus being completely outmatched.

Sun split his staff, twirling his nunchaku around himself as he fired, sending a group reeling. Ruby swept in from behind him, using her semblance to increase the strike. The group went flying into several crates, granting Ruby and Sun a brief respite as their adversaries picked themselves up.

"Well, I should have expected no less from you." The man holding the girl spat, throwing his hostage to one of the recovering men;

"Hold her."

He then proceeded to take his weapon out of his scabbard; a Dust rapier not unlike Weiss' Myrtenaster.

"Your little friend beat me good and proper last time, but as she's not here, I guess I'll just have to take it out on you." He decided.

"Or," he realised, his eyes flashing, he turned to the hostage, pointing his rapier at her throat,

"Or, I'll take it out on her."

Ruby and Sun looked at each other for a moment; the man was too close, even Ruby would not be able to block the strike in time. Reluctantly, Sun recombined his staff and set it down next to Crescent Rose,

"It's ok friend." Ruby spoke calmly;

"We won't let-"

Ruby was cut off by a snort of derision from the rapier-wielding Faunus before turning her attention back to the girl who, was not terrified, in fact her green eyes shone with joy.

"You consider me a friend?" she breathlessly whispered.

Ruby looked at Sun in sheer confusion, an emotion that was mirrored perfectly on his own face, before responding.

"Well, yes, but-"

Once again, Ruby was cut off as the girl threw the Faunus restraining her into his companion before turning to Ruby with a smile;

"Don't worry friend, I'm combat ready!"

* * *

**Author's Note; 3,000 words, yay, anyhoo, I'll hope to have the next chapter up before too long, but until then, good luck with the withdrawal symptoms!**


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